Chapter Sixty-Four: The Livestream Begins

This was an elephant, its entire body pure white—a breed unique to the Continent of Arad. Its ears, broad as fans, flapped ceaselessly, while a short tail dangled behind, occasionally swishing away droppings as they fell. It looked almost identical to earthly elephants, though any differences remained unknown.

Atop the elephant sat a woman, also clad in white, wearing a crop top and a gauzy skirt that revealed her obsidian skin.

Contestant number six was a large monkey with yellow fur and a white back, a blue-faced, sharp-toothed creature. A boyish man perched on its shoulder, deftly tossing stones in his hands.

As for contestant number seven, no one could quite say what odd beast he was riding. It had wings, a long neck, and two enormous, restless bulges at its rear, spinning nervously in place.

On the far right, contestant number eight rode a blue horse. If one ignored the faintly glowing blue light emanating from its body and the three or four sharp horns rising from its head, it would almost seem ordinary.

The judge stood outside the arena, holding a wand aloft. He had been specially invited for this occasion, capable only of casting the Magic Star Bullet spell—a perfect choice for issuing commands!

From the stands, Xie Jing turned to the Clay Pot and asked, “With so many monsters, can we guarantee our contestant’s victory?”

“I can’t promise a hundred percent!” the Clay Pot replied. “Master, surely you know none of your pets are exactly normal creatures. I’d wager on an eighty or ninety percent chance!”

But Xie Jing wasn’t too concerned about winning. In fact, he thought it might be for the best if someone else claimed victory.

“Oh right, find me a room nearby—somewhere private, where no outsiders can enter.”

“Understood!”

The Clay Pot didn’t bother to question Xie Jing’s intentions. His role as a hired steward was simply to fulfill requests to the best of his ability, a service for which he was always praised.

What did Xie Jing intend to do? There were many things he had in mind!

Accompanied by Matchmaker, the Clay Pot arranged for a small room close to the competition grounds—a chamber reserved for VIP guests. However, since Xie Jing’s events were not yet well-known, the audience consisted mainly of local villagers and contestants who hadn’t made the cut.

The view was splendid, and no one would disturb him.

Xie Jing opened B-Station, then started a livestream. While the data was connecting, he produced a fox mask from somewhere and put it on, pulling Matchmaker to stand beside him.

As the stream went live, a link to the broadcast instantly appeared on B-Station’s homepage.

Edward Shett’s Livestream Room!

Gentlemen and gamers who had previously watched his videos immediately clicked in. Until now, they had only seen edited clips, curated to show the best moments. Audiences had grown savvy—no one dared pledge their devotion before seeing the real person behind the lens. After all, if it turned out to be a tank, that would be a disaster.

Many had assumed these were just CG animations from Goose Factory, but to their surprise, it was a real-time broadcast.

“Is he going to show us how the videos are made?”

“He’s obviously promoting the new Sky Outfit! If not, I’ll eat my hat while spinning upside down!”

“I really want to see if there’s a live model. The Dragon Lady is just too beautiful!”

“I, Golantis, refuse to accept that! I’m the most beautiful!”

“Today’s another day of aiming for eighty thousand! Selia is the prettiest!”

The chat exploded as viewers poured in.

Two hundred…

A thousand…

Thirty thousand…

In just five minutes, two hundred thousand people had flooded the stream—this, despite B-Station’s efforts to throttle the traffic.

It wasn’t just on B-Station; even the Men in Black gathered to watch the upcoming broadcast.

The screen shook violently, then revealed an ordinary room. Within it stood a seemingly ordinary person in a fox mask.

But beside this ordinary person stood a stunning young woman with long hair.

“Holy crap! The Dragon Lady! It’s really her!”

“What is this, some kind of black technology? It looks so real!”

“Who’s that guy holding my wife’s hand? Let go, you bastard!”

“Look—what’s that outside?!”

The camera panned, displaying a spacious meadow where various bizarre creatures wandered in and out of view.

“I want to see my wife—turn the camera her way!”

“Where is this? Such a vast grassland—could it be somewhere in our country?”

“Are you blind? Look at those animals! With dragons and apes like those, how could they be from Earth?”

“It’s so real! It can’t be just CG!”

Xie Jing’s voice brought everyone back to attention.

“Hello, everyone! I’m Edward Shett! You should all recognize me!” he announced.

The camera shifted, bringing Matchmaker into view. Xie Jing wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her armored fist, and rapped it with a smile. “This is my pet dragon, Matchmaker. See this fist? Those of you yelling that she’s your wife, consider whether you could survive a punch from her!”

“You shameless scoundrel—take your filthy hands off her!”

“I could take it! I could! I’d even lick her hand!”

“You filthy animal, but honestly—take me with you!”

“Slurp~ slurp~”

“I’m livestreaming today to broaden your horizons and show you this unprecedented animal competition!”

“Here, on the Continent of Arad, live all sorts of wondrous creatures. See those dragons? I’m telling you—they’re all real!”

“Yeah, right! Like we’d believe that!” Many viewers scoffed. As Earthlings, how could they accept the existence of such fantastical beings?

Yet a small number of viewers turned grave. Some were from CG studios themselves and knew that, with current technology, such realistic and interactive scenes were impossible. Others were insiders, alarmed that Xie Jing had just revealed the greatest secret.

But as they watched the lively chat scroll by…

It seemed… perhaps… their fears were unfounded.

A false alarm, after all…

Xie Jing didn’t care much whether they believed him. Whether viewers thought it was real or just CG didn’t matter; all he wanted was more fans and more gift boxes!

“This is a one-of-a-kind contest, friends—don’t blink! Once again, I tell you: This is the real world!”

He slowly turned the camera toward the competition grounds, where the eight contestants were poised and ready to begin!

PS. With the New Year approaching, I owe you all an apology. Lately, I truly haven’t had the time to write. The chapters from yesterday and today were hammered out on my phone while on the road; I know they’re rough, and I’m aware the quality is poor, but I genuinely haven’t had the time.

During the holiday, I won’t be able to update twice a day—as a bare minimum, I’ll post one chapter daily and will write more if time allows. There are visits to make, job hunting to do, and a host of other worries awaiting me. The book’s performance hasn’t been ideal either; even after strong recommendations, the increase in collections is still half the average for this level—frankly, it’s dire.

I’ll do my best to keep writing. If you’re willing, please keep reading; if not, I understand if you walk away—I know the writing is poor, and I have no excuses.